The one-and-done era in college basketball truly began with the 2007 season. Since then, we've seen 14 regular seasons and 13 postseasons filled with outstanding individual performances -- and not all of them by freshmen.
Many players listed below (Stephen Curry, Anthony, Davis, Kevin Durant) went on to become NBA stars, while some (Jimmer Fredette, Jared Sullinger) hit their high point in college. So, who made the list?
Here are the 50 best individual player seasons of the one-and-done era.
1. Zion Williamson, Duke Blue Devils, 2019
He's not here because of recency effect. On the contrary, with everything going on, watching Williamson play basketball in a Duke uniform feels like it took place, oh, about eight lifetimes ago. No, Mike Krzyzewski's star tops this list because basketball is (still!) in large part a matter of 2-point production, and we've never seen a 2-point producer like this freshman. Williamson made about the same percentage of his attempts inside the arc as a dunk specialist like Udoka Azubuike, but the Blue Devils' phenom did so at a volume even higher than what we saw from previous Duke workhorses like Marvin Bagley or Jahlil Okafor. No one else has ever done that. Plus, Williamson's defense was consistently and egregiously underrated.
